'89 GMC Suburban restoration/build up project.

[dieselfuel]

That last trail run showed me three weaknesses in my truck; front shocks, exhaust and the transmission cooler.
Yesterday I took care of the first one, I designed, built and installed some new shock mounts. My situation requires that the shock hang below the axle a few inches, so I came up with a good way of doing it. These are made out of 1/4" plate so they should be able to take a beating pretty well, I can also jack the front end up by them. These dropped the shock eye 2", leaving me with 6" of chrome showing at ride height.
Here are some pictures...

Of course I had to test it out, with a tire 38" off the ground, I've got 1" left in the shock at full droop and 2" left in the shock at full bump.

 

[amgvr4]

Looks good. Must feel nice getting the truck out for some trail fun!

 

[dieselfuel]

i installed a new transmission cooler this week. it's a B&M 70297, 9x13.5" cooler with a 9.5" 600cfm fan, thermostatically controlled. i wired it up with a relay and 15a fuse, it kicks on at 180 and off somewhere around 165-170. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/bmm-70297

mounting was pretty easy, it take up a lot of space though. i used the mounting bars from my old trans cooler and trimmed the hood latch hook a little. it misses the back of the grille by 1/4" or so and the hood hook clears the cooler by 1/4" or so as well.

next to the old one

takes up a lot of space but actually fits really well. the most cooler you can possible cram in there, that's for sure.

tested it with my thermapen, cooking thermometer. i left my laser temp gun at work and this is super accurate anyway.

i love my truck, it drives so nice, sounds great and always makes me happy.

 

[Woofwagon]

I dig the gauges, you wouldn't happen to have the part numbers would you?

 

[dieselfuel]

I dig the gauges, you wouldn't happen to have the part numbers would you?

Not handy no, they're Autometer Cobalt series.

 

[Bojak]

Second the guages, they look sweet. Burb has really come a long way. Nothing puts a smile on your face like riding in a square.

 

[justcuz]

Nice job on all the fab work!
Engine, trans and t-case are a great combo and the axles and suspension top it all off to be an efficient off road rig that you can confidently drive anywhere.
How much fab work do you have left before you can paint it? I hope you are still considering the blue body side stripe. It would be a great color combo with the wheels, bumpers and sliders, plus setting off the interior.
Do you have plans for sleeping and storage in the back?
I've opted for flexibility with mine. I leave my 3rd seat in, but for trips I remove the seat, put my camping gear in the back and cover it with a heavy cargo net. None of it shifts around much and when I sleep in back I just slide my weatherproof boxes under the back of the truck for the night. After breakfast I am usually packed and ready to go before everyone else has their tents down.
Looking forward to more reports on your progress, very nice build. I (and many others here) believe Suburbans are pretty much the best all around expo rig you can build.

 

[dieselfuel]

Nice job on all the fab work!
Engine, trans and t-case are a great combo and the axles and suspension top it all off to be an efficient off road rig that you can confidently drive anywhere.
How much fab work do you have left before you can paint it? I hope you are still considering the blue body side stripe. It would be a great color combo with the wheels, bumpers and sliders, plus setting off the interior.
Do you have plans for sleeping and storage in the back?
I've opted for flexibility with mine. I leave my 3rd seat in, but for trips I remove the seat, put my camping gear in the back and cover it with a heavy cargo net. None of it shifts around much and when I sleep in back I just slide my weatherproof boxes under the back of the truck for the night. After breakfast I am usually packed and ready to go before everyone else has their tents down.
Looking forward to more reports on your progress, very nice build. I (and many others here) believe Suburbans are pretty much the best all around expo rig you can build.

Thanks, that's the goal. I've got to finish sanding the body and prep it for paint still. I'll finish sanding it this summer, paint will come after our trip to moab in september. I plan on recreating the OEM white/blue.
We're actually starting on a platform this weekend, something like what Hidesertwheelin built for his suburban.

As I mentioned before, I found three weaknesses when I took it wheeling a while back. I can now say that those have all been eliminated, a couple of weeks ago I cut the Y-pipe apart and raised the pass side up just over 2".
I cut it apart, mocked up the bends and taped them together, then tacked them in place.

After welding it all together, jumping from joint to joint to keep from overheating/bending anything, I added the O2 sensor bung and bolted it back into the truck. Everything lined up just right!

Just last week I flushed and charged the a/c system, it blew cold for two days and a bearing in the compressor failed. I called Summit racing and they're going to replace it under warranty. It'll probably be here tomorrow, we'll swap it out and recharge it this week, hopefully it'll stay together this time...

 

[amgvr4]

i love my truck, it drives so nice, sounds great and always makes me happy.

I know exactly how you feel! Looking good man!

 

[dieselfuel]

yesterday we got the a/c compressor swapped out and recharged the system. last week we had it blowing cold for two days then a bearing in the compressor failed. she's blowing cold now though, hopefully nothing else goes wrong.

today i went over to my parent/s house and my dad helped me build a platform for the back of the suburban. it sits just over the wheel wells, goes from wall to wall inside and the front section folds back to let the seats unfold. tomorrow i'll set up some legs on the folding section to hold it up when unfolded, for now i've got a piece of wood in there to hold it up. eventually i'll build some drawers to better use the space under the platform.

next weekend i'll start working on the rear bumper, gotta get that tire and hi-lift out of the truck.

 

[dieselfuel]

Tonight I added some stands to the front floor section of the platform. Nice and simple, 3/4" pipe and floor flanges, cut to length and threaded together. When I flip it back, I unthread them and they ride right between the platform and the seat. It holds my 250lb *** just fine.

 

[Seanmiller063]

Very cool!

 

[dieselfuel]

Daisy and I had one hell of a weekend, a good friend came into town to help me set up new ring & pinions. We went from 4.10 to 4.88. At first I was apprehensive about going that low given the amount of highway miles the Suburban sees. Now that it's all installed and the heat cycles/break in period is pretty much done, I can honestly say I'm thrilled with the new gears. The engine and transmission are definitely happier than they were before, first gear no longer winds out to 3000+rpm under normal load, the 2-3 and 3-4 shifts are barely noticeable as well. Both stock covers bent a little coming off, I guess ultra black is stronger than the sheet metal used to make them. They leak now, good excuse to replace them with something better when I change the diff oil in a couple hundred miles.

I didn't get any photos of the pattern on the rear but it was every bit as beautiful as the front.

The rear axle went so smoothly that I didn't have time to get any photos.
Mid way through the front.

Another great thing happened over the weekend, I became an uncle! Alexander Scott Martin was born Thursday night. I'm honored that my brother chose to carry my name on with his son, since my wife and I can't have kids.

 

[piratexpress1369a]

Congrats on being an uncle

 

[ADVW/Liam]

Congrats. Sounds like your brither is a stand up guy for doing that for ya.